Nonduality Buzz

 
Dear Friends,

Last week I was invited to participate as a speaker at an event focused on the subject of "Nonduality."
It turned out to be a very BUSY experience!  Lots of talking!!!!!!!!  When my time came I spoke about the Size of the Universe, pointed to the importance of Just Sitting meditation as a way of confirming this Immensity and also sat quietly with the group for awhile.

It seems the event organizer wasn't very happy with my contribution to the event.  He has already invited me back next year, but only if I can agree to structure the presentation in a different way.  Otherwise, he writes, he will have to begin looking for another nondual meditator to fill the spot I held on the program.

(Suddenly, I notice what it must feel like to be a lab rat...)

Then he follows up by telling me I should read Krishnamurti or The Heart Sutra so I can know that "it is all right here right now... meditation is practicing for the future."  Hmm, sounds like someone's trying really hard to convince me of something, eh?

Anyhow, I thought my response might be of value to some.  Here I offer it.

With love,
Sally

*   *   *

There is no such thing as a "nondual meditator."
This concept is a lie.

I could never call myself a nondual meditator, nor any other kind of meditator.  I just meditate.  That is, I simply sit, every day, without labeling myself or others—without saying something about what Reality is.  This is what "practice" means.  In the end, it's the only thing that matters to me.  If I do not meditate, all my talk, philosophies, writings, studies etc. have no intrinsic, authentic value.  In that case they are just regurgitated concepts that somebody else invented or wrote down. 

The real work is the confirmation, in silence, of what all the great saints and sages have been pointing to.  This encouragement is what I share with those whose hearts are open to listening, and I urge them to check it out and see for themselves.  In each one of us, ultimately "I" can be the only legitimate authority regarding what "I" actually is.

The most important thing I can ever read is my own Being, and then the infinite size of this reveals its ongoing expansion and availability.  Otherwise, I'll never become familiar with the True Nature of what it is that's sitting on my chair or cushion.  I'll never recognize the immensity, boundlessness and all-inclusiveness of the Moment exactly the way it is—the way it already always has been, without something added.  I'll never just be naturally myself.  I'll never truly love what I am.

To learn to be quiet inside, allowing the Entire Cosmos to effortlessly express Itself, takes practice.  To stop "interfering" by getting mentally involved in concepts requires perseverance, patience and great humility.  This is called Abidance, and through it eventually one intimately accords with the source of all Knowledge.  Before anything is said, Self-Knowledge is complete, if one is willing to look in stillness. 

The fruits of earnest, committed Practice spill over into every aspect of a person's life. 

Those who are not inclined to meditate will not comprehend what I am speaking of.